Golf: St. John's coach Bill Prendiville leaves a lasting legacy

Saturday

Jul 5, 2014 at 8:44 PMJul 5, 2014 at 9:10 PM

Bill Doyle Golf

Bill Prendiville's record as St. John's High golf coach is so incredible you almost have to

read it twice to believe it.

In his 42 seasons as golf coach at St. John's High, his teams compiled 624 victories, only 69 losses and 22 ties. They also posted 13 undefeated regular seasons, won 24 Central Mass. championships and captured seven state championships.

How did Prendiville's teams win so often?

"Good players," Prendiville answered. "There's no secret there. If you have the horses, just stay out of their way."

Prendiville is soft-spoken, modest and unassuming. His next boast will be his first, but he's correct in saying he's coached good golfers. He's had many of the best in the state, but don't ask him to name who he believes was the best of them all. He doesn't want to slight anyone.

"You can't put me on the spot like that," he said.

Among the standout golfers he's coached were: Fran Quinn, who was tied for second after the first round of the U.S. Open last month; Fran's brothers Brian and Kevin, who like Fran have won the Mass. Open; Jim Bombard, who served as head pro at Whitinsville GC and Blackstone National; Terry O'Hara, director of golf at Long Boat Key Club in Florida and former director of golf at Cyprian Keyes GC; 2001 Masachusetts Amateur champion Brendan Hester; and Brendan's brother Shawn, a respected teaching pro at Charles River CC in Newton.

Prendiville, 67, joked that he's been coaching golf for so long, Sam Snead played for his first team. But the long, successful ride is over. Prendiville retired as golf coach and English teacher at St. John's last month. No one else had coached a St. John's team for as long as he did.

"Not that I didn't enjoy it," Prendiville said, "but I just felt it was time to move on to the next chapter. Everybody told me, 'You'll know when it's time,' and I think the time is right."

Prendiville, a lifelong bachelor, nearly retired a year ago, but he returned to coach the Pioneers to one last Central Mass. championship and a third-place finish in the state last fall. Junior varsity golf coach Jerry Taylor also stepped down after 25 years at Prendiville's side.

When Prendiville was inducted into the St. John's Athletic Hall of Fame last November, he was recognized as the winningest single-sport coach in school history. But Bobby Foley passed him over the winter.

Of Foley's state-record 831 victories in 51 years of coaching high school basketball, 625 have come in his 34 years at St. John's. So he has one more win than Prendiville and he will add more victories next season. But as Foley pointed out, Prendiville's victory total does not include the 24 Central Mass. championships and seven state titles his teams won.

"I do get credit for playoff wins," Foley said. "So in reality, he does have more wins than me."

"Bob's so gracious," Prendiville said.

Foley served as athletic director at St. John's for much of Prendiville's tenure as golf coach.

"I know a lot of golfers he had were very good golfers," Foley said, "but you've still got to keep guys happy and sometimes it's harder when you have all these good players."

Prendiville handled the situation so well, Foley said he never received a complaint from a parent about him.

Many of the St. John's golfers had their own private instructors while they played for the school so Prendiville concentrated less on technique and more on course management and etiquette.

"I never saw him hit a golf ball in my life," said Bombard, a 1979 St. John's graduate, "but he knew the game from a coaching standpoint, putting the team together and keeping everybody competitive and being gentlemen and respecting the game. That was huge for me at that age."

Prendiville taught his golfers when to be patient and when to be aggressive.

"You learn a lot about yourself," he said. "You're in charge of the ball. You've in charge of what happens. Nobody makes a bad pass to you, no outfielder drops a fly ball, no umpire or ref makes a bad call. You're out there on your own. You find out what you're made of, you find out what your character is like."

When Prendiville was in his late 30s, he played golf about three times a week at various clubs and shot in the low 80s, but a bad back limited him to only one round last year and an inflamed elbow has kept him off the course this year. Prendiville had just begun playing golf seriously when he replaced Brother Evangelus as golf coach in the spring of 1973. Back then, woods were actually made of wood and Tiger Woods had yet to be born.

Taylor Fontaine played for St. John's state championship teams in the autumns of 2005, 2006 and 2007.

"He was never a guy to show a lot of emotion," Fontaine said, "but my senior year when we won it to make it three in a row I remember he got a little teary-eyed and it was kind of cool to see."

Fontaine can't imagine that Prendiville is retiring.

"Standing behind the ninth hole at Wachusett Country Club," Fontaine said, "with his arms crossed waiting for his players to come off the course for 40-plus years, it's pretty crazy to think 40 years. That's insane."

Eddy Black graduated this past spring after playing for St. John's last two state championship teams in 2011 and 2012.

"He was very easygoing," Black said. "He was just a smart guy. He knew what was right and what was wrong and he knew how to tell us what to do. He was just a good coach."

"If I made any positive contribution on the kids," Prendiville said, "I guess that's what I'd be proud of. I tried to get them to be the best they could be as players and people and teammates."

Prendiville plans to continue his roles as public address announcer for St. John's football and basketball games and running the scoreboard at baseball games, but his coaching and teaching days are over.

"Since first grade," he said, "my life has been run by bells. I think it's time to shut the bells off."

High-five for Beauregard

When Rick Beauregard used a 6-iron to card a hole-in-one on the 156-yard fifth hole at Oak Hill CC in Fitchburg two Fridays ago, it was a familiar feeling.

Just over a year earlier, a year and five days to be exact, Beauregard did the same thing. He aced the fifth hole with his Titleist 6-iron.

"I think it's kind of neat," said the Beauregard, a 61-year-old retiree from Sterling.

Five must be Beauregard's lucky number. He carries a five handicap and he's had five holes-in-one, three of them on Oak Hill's fifth hole.

"I say it's law of averages," he said. "I play six days a week. So the more you get to play, the more chances you get."

Beauregard used a 6-iron for all three of his aces on the fifth hole, but he used a different 6 for his first one more than a decade ago. The cup was right of center on the fifth green for all three of his aces, but he didn't see the ball roll into the cup for any of them because the fifth hole is uphill.

He also used his 6-iron to ace the 13th hole last year and he can't even remember which club he used to ace the 11th hole at Sterling National CC.

"I want to get the eighth hole and the 17th hole at Oak Hill so I can complete the sweep," he said, "but the harder I try, the worse I am on it. It's all luck."

Lapointe stepping down

After 15 years of running the Central-Western Mass. Senior Golf Tour, Armand Lapointe of Easthampton will step down at the end of this season.

Lapointe, a 73-year-old retired firefighter, said a couple of the league's golfers are interested in replacing him.

The tour for men aged 55 and older began in Gardner nearly 40 years ago and includes golfers from all walks of life.

"We've got everything," he said. "Lawyers, doctors, just about everything you can name, we've got."

Players pay $19 to walk 18 holes. Carts are extra, but not required. Lapointe said when he first ran the league, 130-140 golfers played each week, but that number has dropped to 80-100 for courses in Central Mass. and 50-60 for courses in Western Mass.

"It's not something you're tied to every week," Lapointe said. "It's a league that you play if you want to; if you don't, you don't."

This year, the tour is scheduled to play 27 events on Thursdays from April to October, including at Southampton CC this week. The Central Mass. stops for the remainder of the season are Holden Hills on July 17, Green Hill on July 24, Winchendon School GC on July 31, Pine Ridge CC on Aug. 7, Quail Hollow on Aug. 21, Gardner on Sept. 4, Templewood on Sept. 18, Leicester CC on Sept. 25, Westminster on Oct. 2, and Heritage on Oct. 9. Golfers play a quota system each week.

If you're interested in playing, show up at one of the sites by 8 a.m. and register.

Contact Bill Doyle at wdoyle@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillDoyle15.